The admissions office has ordinal-level data on parental income levels of enrolled students. What would an appropriate measure of central tendency be to report?
A) mean
B) median
C) percent distribution
D) standard deviation
(Note: * indicates

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Median would be the most appropriate measure of central tendency for ordinal-level data on parental income levels, as it would represent the exact middle value in the ranked list of incomes. The mean would not be appropriate as it assumes interval-level data and can be influenced by extreme outliers. Percent distribution would not provide a measure of central tendency, and standard deviation would not be appropriate without first converting the data to interval-level.

The Admissions Office Has Ordinal-Level Data on Parental Income Levels